Here’s a link to the latest news on Brady Aiken.

Turning 18 is a milestone for any one individual. It signifies a step into adulthood, the end of high school careers and the beginning of college ones, and the start of a new chapter in one’s life; at least for most people. While most of his peers will be sleeping in and lazily consuming the endless hours that are summer, Brady Aiken is up, at 4:30 in the morning, training with his longtime trainer and honing in on his pitching skills.

For Brady, there’s no time for sleeping-in, no time for laziness, because less than a week after walking across the Jenny Craig Pavilion at USD, donning the typical graduation regalia and trencher cap, Brady became the third high-school lefty to ever be drafted as the number one pick in the MLB.

Despite having such success in his baseball career, however, and despite recently coming to an agreement with the Astros on a $6.55MM bonus, tying the Pirate’s Jameson Taillon (2010) for the largest bonus ever agreed to by a high-school pitcher, Brady continues to remain unpretentious.

Indeed, Brady often volunteers through organizations such as Build a Miracle and has been recognized for his fundraising efforts towards Rady’s Children’s Hospital; efforts that garnered approximately $12,900.

“With Brady, you would never know how much he is being sought after just by talking or hanging out with him. Brady is incredibly humble…,” said senior and former teammate Giovanni Garbella.

An attitude maintained through faith and positive influences, Brady draws inspiration from pitcher Clayton Kershaw; not only because of what Kershaw does both on and off the field, but also because of the work that Kershaw does with his wife in Africa.

Perhaps even more inspirational to Brady than Kershaw, however, is his faith and family. After starting the sport when he was merely eight years old, Brady’s father quickly became the biggest influence on his baseball career though his constant presence and help. As Brady said, “Without God and without my family, I would be nowhere today. They have all taught me so much about myself and about the game of baseball.”

A game in which 2/3 of its participants fail.

Despite the fact that failure is not something he is unfamiliar with, Brady explained how that notion does not lessen his love of the game. Indeed, Brady’s passion for the game formed even before he started to officially play, when he would simply watch games on TV or even in the stands. As years have passed, then, his interest in the sport has only grown and his desire to be a good player and to someday even be in the hall of fame has only fueled his motivation to train harder.

Motivation has, evidently, paid off. Brady not only shows great velocity in his pitches, but, according to CCHS head baseball coach Gary Remiker, he also has “the ability to change speeds and throw strikes.” Further, his consistent fastball, effective changeup, and developing curveball are also key characteristics of Brady that made him so appealing to teams.

Teams, however, were also interested in drafting Brady because he maintains a sufficient amount of maturity that will allow him to handle the pressures of playing pro ball; these include, but are not limited to, staying out of trouble, making good decisions, and handling stressful situations.

Fortunately for Brady, performing under pressure is perhaps his greatest characteristic as a player, at least according to his former teammate, junior Jonathan Pendergast.

Indeed, Brady’s best quality as a player would be “his ability to show as little emotion as possible when on the mound, while still be able to compete,” added Brady’s former catcher and junior Toru Sugiura.

Giovanni agreed, and went on to explain how Brady’s high level of maturity on the field is what encourages his teammates to want to “step up their game and match his play.”

It is in this way that Brady acts as a role model for the team. As Coach Remiker said, “Brady is a great teammate. He leads by example and his teammates look up to him.  He always competes hard but always shows respect to the opponent, the officials, the coaches, and his teammates… He works hard, practices hard, does his school work, and plays the game the right way.”

“Not only has he made me a better catcher, but he has also been a great teammate,” added Toru. “I truly admire the way he carries himself on and off the field.”

In fact, despite having the opportunities to catch for several other elite pitchers at Cathedral, including Stephen Gonzalves and Daniel Camarena, Toru insisted that, out of all three of the lefties, Brady has had the biggest impact on his high school baseball career.

Giovanni has also been affected by Brady’s charismatic presence, saying that “He is a great role model and has a great work ethic. Seeing how he goes about playing the game and how much he has fun makes me want to follow in his footsteps and be the best I can be.”

Brady, clearly, is not merely a statistic.

“I just want to be the guy that people look up to on and off the field,” said Brady. “I don’t want to be someone who’s always so flashy, but rather someone who gets the job done and someone that has great character off of the field as well.”